Just to make it clear precisely what we’re talking about, here: it’s not good. 25,000 acres burned so far, and the state is apparently as dry as a bone right now, thanks to a drought. Let me show you the extent of the problem:

That picture is taken from Weather Underground’s WunderMap (as of roughly 10 PM EDT, September 5, 2011*). The red flames represent fires, obviously: the dark smudges represent smoke cover. Just in case the picture isn’t loading for you on your particular platform, let me sum it up for you: A LARGE PORTION OF CENTRAL AND EAST TEXAS IS ON FIRE RIGHT NOW.

I understand that there are people trying to politicize this situation, for their own purposes. I invite all of them to shut up and instead do something useful, like send their readers or listeners over to the American Red Cross.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Another map can be found here, courtesy of @bdomenech.